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You can’t blame future Sylvania Schools Superintendent Tim Zieroff for being excited
and a little bit nervous.
His appointment to become the next superintendent leaves him grateful and full of
anticipation. “The angst with that,” he explains, “is we have students and families,
parents specifically, and guardians in this district who expect an outstanding education
and outstanding opportunities for their kids.” He adds expectations “to lead…and
continuously improve” create pressure. “That’s stress. That’s the expectation here in this
district.” He is confident he will have staunch support from stakeholders and staff.
Zieroff, Sylvania’s assistant superintendent for almost nine years, will become
superintendent next August when Dr. Veronica Motley retires. He says the biggest
challenge is to continue to deliver quality for Sylvania’s 8,000 students while
simultaneously dealing with significant state funding cuts. He is mindful that “we’re
trying to navigate not only that but also just the realm of inflation and how we handle a
case of toilet paper. It didn’t cost five years ago what it does today or even diesel fuel on
our buses. So, we have to be as fiscally responsible as possible.” In December, the
school board voted unanimously to place a new 7.9 mill tax levy on the May 2026 ballot.
Unlike Toledo, which announced it would eliminate approximately 100 staff positions in
December, Zieroff doesn’t foresee a forced reduction within Sylvania schools. “We try
our best to do that through attrition. If we have a teacher who’s retiring, is there a way
we can absorb that staff member of that class based not only the needs educationally of
students but also class sizes as well?” 86% of the district’s expenses involve wages,
salaries and insurance benefits.
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When asked about potential redistricting or re-drawing school boundaries, Zieroff noted,
“I think our buildings are at the sufficient level where we’re not needing to do
redistricting at this time.”
Zieroff worked his way up. He began his career in education as an elementary and later
a junior high school teacher in Swanton. He served as an athletic director, dean of
students, and assistant principal and principal at Arbor Hills Junior High School. He
credits his aunt and uncle who were teachers for his decision to go into education. “It’s
been everything I could have ever asked for, 100 percent.”
Dr. Motley has been Zieroff’s mentor. “She’s done a very impactful job in the six years
that she’s been here of kicking the status quo.” Zieroff is grateful that she began
preparing him to move up almost as soon as she arrived four years ago. “As much as I
work with her in that position, there are still things I don’t know.” He plans to continue tolisten and learn and “follow the processes that have been put in place and evaluate how
we will move things forward.”
Tim Zieroff resides in Sylvania with his wife and daughter.
